Bangladesh Factory Collapses, Hundreds Feared Trapped

PALASHBARI, Bangladesh - Rescuers pulled 22 bodies from a nine-storey garment factory that collapsed near Bangladesh's capital on Monday but hundreds of people were feared trapped in the rubble.

The rescuers armed with searchlights and cutting gear pulled 82 people alive from the debris but their efforts were hampered by narrow roads, swamps and paddy fields surrounding the site and by a stream of mourners, officials and witnesses said.

"The battle is on and being intensified," said a rescue official. "Hundreds of mourners are still crowding the site of the collapsed building and refusing to go away," he said.

The army brought in sniffer dogs and heavy equipment including excavators and cranes to speed up an effort that went on into the night.

Police and firefighters said the building collapsed at about 1 a.m. (3 p.m. EDT) during Monday's night shift at Shahriar Fabrics at Palashbari, 30 km (18 miles) from Dhaka.

"In a few minutes the entire structure crumbled like a house of cards," a witness told a private television channel.

A massive pile of bricks and concrete slabs was all that remained of the building. Rescuers and relatives stood helplessly on top, some calling for loved ones.

Army medical units supplied bottled water and medicine to trapped survivors after cutting holes in the building's roof.

"We will work through the night and expect to complete the rescue operation by tomorrow," one rescue official said.

CALLING FROM THE RUBBLE

"We suspect up to 500 people are under the debris. It was a packed night shift running ... and dozens may have died already," a survivor told reporters on the scene.